Hailey Jackson Scores 26 as Sandites Defeat Union

For the second straight year, the visiting Lady Sandite basketball team defeated the Union RedHawks behind Hailey Jackson’s scoring prowess.

Last season the senior only needed 10 points to guide her team in a 38-34 affair. On Tuesday she put up 26 to lead all scorers in a 50-42 nailbiter at the UMAC.

“I was a little off tonight, but I was able to keep it somewhat moving,” said Jackson, who exploded for 14 in the fourth quarter to stave off a Union rally.

No. 11 Sand Springs (9-4) improved to 2-2 in Frontier Valley Conference action against the unranked RedHawks (2-7), who dropped to 1-3.

Jackson surpassed 1,000 career points last weekend and her leadership has helped push the team forward while it struggles with injuries and sickness.

“She’s doing what she’s supposed to be doing,” said head coach Josh Berry. “She’s a special talent and she’s a special person.”

“We’re finally getting some pieces back that’ve been out. That’s another thing is just getting everybody healthy and getting everybody back and this thing in late February.”

Sand Springs opened on an 11-0 run and never trailed in the game, leading by as much as 13 in the third quarter, but could never fully pull away from a balanced RedHawk attack.

Yonae’ Edwards bookended a 12-3 Redhawk run to cut it as close as 16-13 midway through the second quarter before the Sandites ended the half with 9 unanswered points.

Union won the third quarter to make it 33-25 but Jackson’s fourth-quarter theatrics were too much to overcome.

Edwards scored 12 to lead the RedHawks and Vanessa Colemand and Jamiya Woodard added 10 apiece.

Sand Springs will host No. 14 Owasso (6-4, 1-3) Friday in a rematch of the Bishop Kelley Invitational finals, which Sand Springs won 51-49.

Boys - Union 60, CPHS 49

The No. 19 Union boys (5-5, 3-1) won their fifth straight meeting with No. 18 Sand Springs (6-4, 1-3) Tuesday behind a 19-point effort from Cedric Dixon.

Dixon’s three-point shooting combined with his team’s inside height advantage proved too much for the visiting Sandites, who fell 60-49 after leading through most of the first half.

“He’s our guy that we look for to make shots for us,” said head coach Rudy Garcia. “He does a pretty good job. He hit some big ones there late when we needed some shots.”

The Sandites went on an 11-3 run to close the first quarter up 14-11, but Miles Flemmons scored three buckets in a 7-point second-quarter streak to take a 23-20 lead and the RedHawks never relinquished it.

Union never led by more than eight in the third quarter and didn’t take its first double-digit lead till a bucket from Korbin Gunn with under four minutes in the game.

“Sand Springs has been playing well and we struggled a little bit early,” said Garcia. “I was happy with our defense for the most part. I thought our guys defended pretty well.”

Flemmons scored 12 and Gunn added 11 to put three RedHawks in double digits but the Sandites’ Kooper Kelly led all scorers with a career-best 20.

“I was proud of my guys,” said Garcia. “I thought they played hard tonight.”

The teams will get a rematch on February 14th at Sand Springs. Union will return to action Friday on the road at 5A No. 16 Sapulpa (5-8, 1-3)

(Girls)
CPHS;13;12;8;17;--;50.
Union;6;7;12;17;--;42.

CPHS: Jackson 26, Wilson 7, Martin 5, Morris 4, Taylor 4, Butler 2, Fueshko 2.
Union: Hishaw 12, Coleman 10, Woodard 10, Bettis 4, McSwain 4, Stith 2.

(Boys)
CPHS;14;8;13;14;--;49.
Union:11;16;14;19;--;60.

CPHS: Kelly 20, Roper 10, Johnson 6, Foster 5, Holland 4, Allen 4.
Union: Dixon 19, Flemmons 12, Gunn 11, Madrid 8, Gilayard 3, Chappelle 3, Miller 2, Bowen 2.

Sandites Place 2nd at Diamond State Duals, 8th at Jenks Tournament

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Sand Springs wrestling program as the Sandites took second place at the Diamond State Duals in Springdale on December 30th and eighth place at the Larry Wilkey Invitational in Jenks on January 7th.

At the Jenks tournament the Sandites had six placers and one finalist, led by Mitchell Smith as runner-up.

“It was, in my opinion, a little bit of an up and down weekend,” said first-year coach Ty Bowling.

“I think we had a really good quarterfinal round and struggled in the semis, but I think we came back and finished pretty strong.”

Smith faced a rematch with Salina state champion Gavin Montgomery, who dealt the Sandite his only loss in December’s Enid tournament. In that event Smith led 6-0 before giving up a reversal and pin with four seconds left.

In the rematch it was Smith who had to battle out of an early hole after giving up a takedown and two nearfall points before calling an injury timeout for a knee pain.

“I think it was more of a scare than anything, just kind of an awkward position,” said Bowling. “But he came back. He was put in a bad spot down 4-0 but he battled all the way back.”

The senior tied it up at 5-5 on a third-period reversal, but Montgomery reclaimed the lead with a reversal of his own and won a 7-6 decision.

“It’s just one of those matches where we learn in January how to finish in February, so he’ll come back strong.”

Zander Grigsby placed third, Mason Harris was fourth, Kase Skaggs and Jayden Pait placed fifth, and Ethan White was sixth at the tournament.

No. 7 Sand Springs (10-1) won its first nine duals of the season before falling 39-37 to Ozark in the Diamond dual finals, then defeated Jenks on Tuesday before the tournament.

In pool play Sand Springs won 77-6 against Fayetteville, 64-9 against Bentonville, and 74-0 against Arlington for its biggest win and first shutout since 2017.

In the gold bracket the Sandites won 78-6 against Shiloh Christian, 70-6 against North Desoto, and 69-3 against Bentonville before falling to Ozark in the finals.

Skaggs, Matthew Moore, Pait, Grigsby, Jesse Moore, David Ritchey, and Cash Lucas all went undefeated in the Springdale duals. The Sandites went 85-13 in individual matches.

“I think that was really good for our confidence,” said Bowling. “Not only did we get a bunch of matches, but we were able to win as a team and come together in a dual format.”

Ritchey, Matthew Moore, Grigsby, Smith, Trotter, White, McCoy and Harris all pinned their foes in the 58-15 win at Jenks on Tuesday.

“Obviously you want to have a lot of success in December and January, but you’re always building toward February and getting your hand raised down at that last match in the state tournament, so that’s what we’re building towards.”

Sand Springs will return to action with a tough road dual at No. 3 Bixby (5-2) on Thursday before competing at the Jerry Billings Invitational in Sapulpa over the weekend.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Kelsi Hilton wins Diamond State Tournament

The Sand Springs girls varsity wrestling team took 25th place at the Inola tournament over the weekend with two medalists. Kelsi Hilton took second place at 130 pounds with three pins while Kreedence Behnke placed sixth at 100.

The junior varsity boys placed 10th at Inola with two medalists. Ayreson Reiss scored two pins and a technical fall in a runner-up performance at 106. Preston Callis was runner-up at 165 with four pins.

Hilton took first place at the Diamond State Lady Invitational over winter break, pinning three opponents for her first regular season title.

Laila Mirza and Madison Chambers placed third, Gracie Young was fourth, and Addilly Shotwell and Kreedence Behnke were sixth in Springdale.

The Keystone Kids crowned seven champions and 10 runners-up at the Bedlam Battle in Stillwater.

Brackton Upton, Maddix Spencer, Bryson Pope, Kasen McAffrey, and Trey Tunnell all won their divisions while Kydon Harness won in two divisions.

Jett Galloway, Na’Kya Canady, Caemon Young, Ryker Dawes, Jayce Parks, Eric Foust, Hudson Waag, Carsten Reiss, Wes Wilson, and Samuel Moore all took second place.

Boys Basketball

The Sand Springs varsity boys (6-3) have already matched last season’s win total with a third-place performance at the East Central Classic in Ada over the weekend.

On Thursday the Sandites won 51-42 against Ardmore (4-7) behind a 13-point performance from Michael Foster and 11 points from Blake Johnson.

They slipped against host Ada (8-3) on Friday, however, in a close 46-43 battle after leading 26-18 at halftime and 34-29 to start the fourth. Kooper Kelly scored 11 to lead the Sandites.

In the placement round Kelly was once against the team leader with 11 points in a 53-45 win over 3A No. 8 Hugo (10-4). Kelly was named to the All-Tournament team.

Girls Basketball

Hailey Jackson became the second player under Josh Berry to join the 1,000 point club at Sand Springs as the Lady Sandites (8-4) placed sixth at the Putnam City Invitational.

The senior star scored 28 in a 50-46 loss to No. 17 Norman North (6-5) on Thursday and added 17 in a 49-34 win over Muskogee (2-6).

In Saturday’s placement match with 4A No. 7 Harding Prep (12-2) Jackson scored 25 and put herself over the 1,000 mark with a third-quarter free throw. The Sandites lost that game 57-47.

Sakauri Wilson scored 13 and Kiaryn Taylor added 12 in the win over Muskogee, and Wilson added 17 against Harding.

Sandite basketball will return to action with conference road games at Union on Tuesday and will host Owasso on Thursday.

Football

Several Sandite football players are receiving college offers. Jacob Blevins, Kyle Morrall, and Ryley Kester have all been recruited by Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Former Sandite offensive line coach Jason Medrano has been hired as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at NWOSU.

Brian Boyles, Fernando Saldana Propel WSA Team to National Championship

View fullsize

The West Side Alliance’s U19 team won the Super Y League National Championship in Tampa Bay on December 13th, and two Sandites were key contributors.

Brian Boyles and Fernando Saldana compete on the 04/05 Boys team for the WSA, a competitive soccer club based in Sand Springs and West Tulsa.

Boyles is a senior at Charles Page High School and Saldana is a 2021 CPHS alum..

“When we got there I think we all had a goal in mind and that was to win a national championship,” said Boyles.

“We all knew what we could do and we were fully capable of doing that.”

In Tampa the WSA team defeated New York’s Westchester Flames 4-3 in overtime after coming back from a 3-1 deficit. After taking the lead, they had to hold it for seven minutes.

“Going 3-1 down in the final, in the last 10 or 15 minutes you expect teams to quit,” said Boyles. “Down two goals with not much time left, I feel like we were ready for that moment.”

The finals battle was a rematch of a 3-1 WSA victory from pool play.

“It actually made it harder on us because it’s hard to beat a team twice, especially in the same tournament, and they were obviously the other best team there besides us.”

En route to the finals, the WSA group won 6-2 against Michigan’s Liverpool FC, 2-0 against Maryland’s Arundel SA, and 3-1 against Northern Virginia United Academy, in addition to the first match against Westchester.

“When we went into our first game we weren’t nervous at all like how teams are usually nervous on their first game,” said Boyles.

“We were laughing, having fun in the warmups, and it showed when we were so relaxed and won our first game 6-2.”

“I think that momentum just kept going throughout the whole tournament. I feel like we were more confident than the other teams as a whole. That just made us feel better about ourselves going into each next game.”

Saldana was named the MVP of the game after scoring both the equalizer and the game winner.

Saldana and Boyles didn’t get to play much together as Sandites. The 2020 season was canceled after only three matches due to the initial COVID-19 outbreak, then Boyles broke his foot during the 2021 season.

Despite this, the two have a close relationship. While many teammates feel a sense of brotherhood, Boyles actually describes it as a father-son relationship.

“He’s always been like the older guy in the locker room. A mentor. He’s always been someone who, if I need help with something, I can always just go and ask him. He’s a good person to learn off of because he’s humble and quiet and he’s just a guy that you want to be around.”

Boyles will be looking for some of that club success to translate into prep wins as the Sandites enter their second season under Brent Lollis this spring.

Sandites Win Highway 97 Rivalry 51-20 Against Sapulpa

The Sand Springs boys wrestling team is right where it wants to be heading into Christmas break.

The No. 8 Sandites are 3-0 in duals following a 51-20 victory against 5A No. 10 Sapulpa (1-2) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

Sand Springs won nine out of fourteen matches with six pins in its seventh-straight Highway 97 Rivalry win.

“Anytime you can beat your rivals it’s a good evening,” said first-year head coach Ty Bowling.

“Good start to December for us so far. We’re not in February yet so we’ve got plenty of time to get better and keep getting better every single week.”

Sapulpa won the opening match with a 3-0 decision by Christian Cue over Dawson Briscoe, but a forfeit at 113 put the Sandites ahead for the remainder of the evening.

Colt Hood pinned Jackson Mills in 28 seconds and Brady Moore won a 7-0 decision against Jackson Willingham before the Chieftains won their next match.

Kyle Brooks eked out a back-and-forth 6-4 decision over Preston Reyna, but the Sandites responded with three more bonus point wins

Jayden Pait and Jesse Moore pinned their opponents and Mitchell Smith received a forfeit to make it 33-6.

Blake Hurt won an 8-7 upset against Jaxon Trotter at 157 pounds, but Ethan White answered with a 32-second pin of Trey Henderson to clinch the dual for Sand Springs.

“It’s Ethan’s senior year,” said Bowling. “We’re working real hard to get him to the state tournament this year, hopefully to the podium.”

“He’s been putting in extra work and that’s his goal this year is to get to the state tournament and make a little noise there.”

Sapulpa won at 190 and 215, but Hudson Sheppard pinned Mason Williams in 38 seconds and Mason Harris pinned Taylor Anderson in 29 seconds to wrap up the evening.

“This year we’re working on our toughness and I think every single week we’ve gotten a little bit tougher,” said Bowling.

“We had two duals a couple of weeks ago then we rolled into a long two-day tournament. We dealt with sickness and soreness and getting our weight down, but we battled through things and each week we’re getting tougher and tougher and that’s kind of our theme for this year.”

Prior to the boys dual, Ty Davis pinned Elizabeth Corveler in a girls exhibition match.

The Sandites will return to action December 29th at the Diamond State Duals in Springdale, Arkansas.

Laila Mirza Becomes First-Ever Girls Tournament Champion from Sand Springs

View fullsize

Laila Mirza is officially the first ever regular-season tournament champion for the Sand Springs girls wrestling program.

The junior 120 pounder won the Joe Cole Classic in Cleveland, helping her team to a program-best 2nd place finish. All five Lady Sandites placed top-four in their divisions.

“I found her in the weight room because I help coach (Kevin) Avey with the girls weightlifting,” said head coach Ty Bowling, who started the girls’ program this year.

“She tries to get as much extra work (during free period) or during weightlifting period when they’re not lifting weights, and she’ll stay after practice.”

“She’s one that gets here early and stays late,” said Bowling.

Mirza pinned her first two opponents without giving up a single point, then received two forfeits in the round-robin bracket.

“She’s run cross country and she’s ran some track, and she told me at the beginning of the year that she had never ever won a medal.”

“That preseason tournament she went to she got first, then she took sixth (at Jay) and got a medal there, and then she got first here, so she’s kind of three for three on the medals in wrestling.”

Kelsi Hilton placed third at 140 pounds with three pins, only losing in a close 8-5 decision to the tournament champion.

Addily Shotwell placed third at 170 with one pin. Kreedence Behnke placed third and Madison Chambers was fourth at 100 pounds.

“Our girls are working hard,” said Bowling. “Wrestling’s not an easy sport and they’re in here every day doing it exactly like the boys are doing.”

“We’re not trying to put too much pressure on them, but we’re telling them how they’re going to be forever remembered as the girls that started (the program) and have a chance to be the first ever Sand Springs girls State qualifiers.”

The junior varsity boys placed fourth at the tournament despite mostly facing varsity competitors.

Kase Skaggs won the 113-pound bracket and four other Sandites also medaled.

Skaggs outscored his opponents 51 to 13 with a pin and two major decisions before earning a 4-2 decision over State qualifier Daxtyn Davis.

Peyton Callis was runner-up at 165 with three pins; Cash Lucas was runner-up at 285 with three pins; Jesse Moore placed third at 144 with four pins; and Logan Childers placed fourth at 113 with three pins.

The junior high boys team placed 12th with two total medalists and the junior high girls placed 14th with one medalist.

Gage Gunn placed fourth at 132 with three pins; Dallas Flores placed fourth at 155 with five pins; and Rylee Allen placed fourth at girls 117 with two pins.

The Keystone Kids wrestling club had no problem winning the Sand Springs Slam tournament over the weekend with 28 champions, nearly tripling the score of runner-up Barnsdall.

Jase Morgan, Maddix Spencer, Hagan Wolfenberger, Kason Wolfe, Acetyn Hart, Sutton Hawley, Zander Pope, Rylan Hamby, Ty Galloway, Samuel Moore, Joshua Compton, Griffin Sensintaffar, Ayreson Reiss, David Ritchey, Matthew Moore, Kasen McAffrey, Samuel Reichel, Jaxon Trotter, Brenntly Taylor, Jayce Parks, Caemon Young, Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Hunter Sims, Colt Combs, Kydon Harness, Gage Buchanan, and Saylor Eaglin all won their divisions.

The varsity boys and girls will return to action Tuesday, December 20th with home duals against Sapulpa at 6:00 p.m.